Studies in Logic and the Foundations of Mathematics, Volume 102: Set Theory: An Introduction to Independence Proofs offers an introduction to relative consistency proofs in axiomatic set theory, including combinatorics, sets, trees, and forcing. The book first tackles the foundations of set theory and infinitary combinatorics. Discussions focus on the Suslin problem, Martin's axiom, almost disjoint and quasi-disjoint sets, trees, extensionality and comprehension, relations, functions, and well-ordering, ordinals, cardinals, and real numbers. The manuscript then ponders on well-founded sets and easy consistency proofs, including relativization, absoluteness, reflection theorems, properties of well-founded sets, and induction and recursion on well-founded relations. The publication examines constructible sets, forcing, and iterated forcing. Topics include Easton forcing, general iterated forcing, Cohen model, forcing with partial functions of larger cardinality, forcing with finite partial functions, and general extensions. The manuscript is a dependable source of information for mathematicians and researchers interested in set theory.

This book is an introduction to set theory for beginning graduate students who want to get a sound grounding in those aspects of set theory used extensively throughout other areas of mathematics. Topics covered include formal languages and models, the power and limitation of the Axiomatic Method, the Axiom of Choice, including the fascinating Banach-Tarski Paradox, applications of Zorn's Lemma, ordinal arithmetic, including transfinite induction, and cardinal arithmetic. The style of writing, more a dialogue with the reader than that of the Master indoctrinating the pupil, makes this also very suitable for self-study.

This book provides a self-contained introduction to modern set theory and also opens up some more advanced areas of current research in this field. The first part offers an overview of classical set theory wherein the focus lies on the axiom of choice and Ramsey theory. In the second part, the sophisticated technique of forcing, originally developed by Paul Cohen, is explained in great detail. With this technique, one can show that certain statements, like the continuum hypothesis, are neither provable nor disprovable from the axioms of set theory. In the last part, some topics of classical set theory are revisited and further developed in the light of forcing. The notes at the end of each chapter put the results in a historical context, and the numerous related results and the extensive list of references lead the reader to the frontier of research. This book will appeal to all mathematicians interested in the foundations of mathematics, but will be of particular use to graduates in this field.

Descriptive set theory has been one of the main areas of research in set theory for almost a century. This text presents a largely balanced approach to the subject, which combines many elements of the different traditions. It includes a wide variety of examples, more than 400 exercises, and applications, in order to illustrate the general concepts and results of the theory.

Mathematical logic grew out of philosophical questions regarding the foundations of mathematics, but logic has now outgrown its philosophical roots, and has become an integral part of mathematics in general. This book is designed for students who plan to specialize in logic, as well as for those who are interested in the applications of logic to other areas of mathematics. Used as a text, it could form the basis of a beginning graduate-level course. There are three main chapters: Set Theory, Model Theory, and Recursion Theory. The Set Theory chapter describes the set-theoretic foundations of all of mathematics, based on the ZFC axioms. It also covers technical results about the Axiom of Choice, well-orderings, and the theory of uncountable cardinals. The Model Theory chapter discusses predicate logic and formal proofs, and covers the Completeness, Compactness, and Lowenheim-Skolem Theorems, elementary submodels, model completeness, and applications to algebra. This chapter also continues the foundational issues begun in the set theory chapter. Mathematics can now be viewed as formal proofs from ZFC. Also, model theory leads to models of set theory. This includes a discussion of absoluteness, and an analysis of models such as H( ) and R( ). The Recursion Theory chapter develops some basic facts about computable functions, and uses them to prove a number of results of foundational importance; in particular, Church's theorem on the undecidability of logical consequence, the incompleteness theorems of Godel, and Tarski's theorem on the non-definability of truth.

This volume contains a variety of problems from classical set theory and represents the first comprehensive collection of such problems. Many of these problems are also related to other fields of mathematics, including algebra, combinatorics, topology and real analysis. Rather than using drill exercises, most problems are challenging and require work, wit, and inspiration. They vary in difficulty, and are organized in such a way that earlier problems help in the solution of later ones. For many of the problems, the authors also trace the history of the problems and then provide proper reference at the end of the solution.

This exploration of a notorious mathematical problem is the work of the man who discovered the solution. Written by an award-winning professor at Stanford University, it employs intuitive explanations as well as detailed mathematical proofs in a self-contained treatment. This unique text and reference is suitable for students and professionals. 1966 edition. Copyright renewed 1994.

An excellent undergraduate text on set theory that could be used in courses taught in mathematics and philosophy departments. The intuitive development in the first chapters also makes the book suitable for self study.

This introductory graduate text covers modern mathematical logic from propositional, first-order and infinitary logic and Gödel's Incompleteness Theorems to extensive introductions to set theory, model theory and recursion (computability) theory. Based on the author's more than 35 years of teaching experience, the book develops students' intuition by presenting complex ideas in the simplest context for which they make sense. The book is appropriate for use as a classroom text, for self-study, and as a reference on the state of modern logic.

This book is designed for readers who know elementary mathematical logic and axiomatic set theory, and who want to learn more about set theory. The primary focus of the book is on the independence proofs. Most famous among these is the independence of the Continuum Hypothesis (CH); that is, there are models of the axioms of set theory (ZFC) in which CH is true, and other models in which CH is false. More generally, cardinal exponentiation on the regular cardinals can consistently be anything not contradicting the classical theorems of Cantor and Konig. The basic methods for the independence proofs are the notion of constructibility, introduced by Godel, and the method of forcing, introduced by Cohen. This book describes these methods in detail, verifi es the basic independence results for cardinal exponentiation, and also applies these methods to prove the independence of various mathematical questions in measure theory and general topology. Before the chapters on forcing, there is a fairly long chapter on "infi nitary combinatorics." This consists of just mathematical theorems (not independence results), but it stresses the areas of mathematics where set-theoretic topics (such as cardinal arithmetic) are relevant. There is, in fact, an interplay between infi nitary combinatorics and independence proofs. Infi nitary combinatorics suggests many set-theoretic questions that turn out to be independent of ZFC, but it also provides the basic tools used in forcing arguments. In particular, Martin's Axiom, which is one of the topics under infi nitary combinatorics, introduces many of the basic ingredients of forcing.

Descriptive Set Theory is the study of sets in separable, complete metric spaces that can be defined (or constructed), and so can be expected to have special properties not enjoyed by arbitrary pointsets. This subject was started by the French analysts at the turn of the 20th century, most prominently Lebesgue, and, initially, was concerned primarily with establishing regularity properties of Borel and Lebesgue measurable functions, and analytic, coanalytic, and projective sets. Its rapid development came to a halt in the late 1930s, primarily because it bumped against problems which were independent of classical axiomatic set theory. The field became very active again in the 1960s, with the introduction of strong set-theoretic hypotheses and methods from logic (especially recursion theory), which revolutionized it. This monograph develops Descriptive Set Theory systematically, from its classical roots to the modern ``effective'' theory and the consequences of strong (especially determinacy) hypotheses. The book emphasizes the foundations of the subject, and it sets the stage for the dramatic results (established since the 1980s) relating large cardinals and determinacy or allowing applications of Descriptive Set Theory to classical mathematics. The book includes all the necessary background from (advanced) set theory, logic and recursion theory.

In case you are considering to adopt this book for courses with over 50 students, please contact [email protected] for more information. This introduction to mathematical logic starts with propositional calculus and first-order logic. Topics covered include syntax, semantics, soundness, completeness, independence, normal forms, vertical paths through negation normal formulas, compactness, Smullyan's Unifying Principle, natural deduction, cut-elimination, semantic tableaux, Skolemization, Herbrand's Theorem, unification, duality, interpolation, and definability. The last three chapters of the book provide an introduction to type theory (higher-order logic). It is shown how various mathematical concepts can be formalized in this very expressive formal language. This expressive notation facilitates proofs of the classical incompleteness and undecidability theorems which are very elegant and easy to understand. The discussion of semantics makes clear the important distinction between standard and nonstandard models which is so important in understanding puzzling phenomena such as the incompleteness theorems and Skolem's Paradox about countable models of set theory. Some of the numerous exercises require giving formal proofs. A computer program called ETPS which is available from the web facilitates doing and checking such exercises. Audience: This volume will be of interest to mathematicians, computer scientists, and philosophers in universities, as well as to computer scientists in industry who wish to use higher-order logic for hardware and software specification and verification.

Ever since Paul Cohen's spectacular use of the forcing concept to prove the independence of the continuum hypothesis from the standard axioms of set theory, forcing has been seen by the general mathematical community as a subject of great intrinsic interest but one that is technically so forbidding that it is only accessible to specialists. In the past decade, a series of remarkable solutions to long-standing problems in C*-algebra using set-theoretic methods, many achieved by the author and his collaborators, have generated new interest in this subject. This is the first book aimed at explaining forcing to general mathematicians. It simultaneously makes the subject broadly accessible by explaining it in a clear, simple manner, and surveys advanced applications of set theory to mainstream topics. Contents:Peano ArithmeticZermelo–Fraenkel Set TheoryWell-Ordered SetsOrdinalsCardinalsRelativizationReflectionForcing NotionsGeneric ExtensionsForcing EqualityThe Fundamental TheoremForcing CHForcing ¬ CHFamilies of Entire Functions*Self-Homeomorphisms of βℕ \ ℕ, I*Pure States on B(H)*The Diamond PrincipleSuslin's Problem, I*Naimark's problem*A Stronger DiamondWhitehead's Problem, I*Iterated ForcingMartin's AxiomSuslin's Problem, II*Whitehead's Problem, II*The Open Coloring AxiomSelf-Homeomorphisms of βℕ \ ℕ, II*Automorphisms of the Calkin Algebra, I*Automorphisms of the Calkin Algebra, II*The Multiverse Interpretation Readership: Graduates and researchers in logic and set theory, general mathematical audience. Keywords:Forcing;Set Theory;Consistency;Independence;C*-AlgebraKey Features:A number of features combine to make this thorough and rigorous treatment of forcing surprisingly easy to follow. First, it goes straight into the core material on forcing, avoiding Godel constructibility altogether; second, key definitions are simplified, allowing for a less technical development; and third, further care is given to the treatment of metatheoretic issuesEach chapter is limited to four pages, making the presentation very readableA unique feature of the book is its emphasis on applications to problems outside of set theory. Much of this material is currently only available in the primary literatureThe author is a pioneer in the application of set-theoretic methods to C*-algebra, having solved (together with various co-authors) Dixmier's “prime versus primitive” problem, Naimark's problem, Anderson's conjecture about pure states on B(H), and the Calkin algebra outer automorphism problemReviews: “The author presents the basics of the theory of forcing in a clear and stringent way by emphasizing important technical details and simplifying some definitions and arguments. Moreover, he presents the content in a way that should help beginners to understand the central concepts and avoid common mistakes.” Zentralblatt MATH

A lucid, elegant, and complete survey of set theory, this three-part treatment explores axiomatic set theory, the consistency of the continuum hypothesis, and forcing and independence results. 1996 edition.

The Logical Foundations of Mathematics offers a study of the foundations of mathematics, stressing comparisons between and critical analyses of the major non-constructive foundational systems. The position of constructivism within the spectrum of foundational philosophies is discussed, along with the exact relationship between topos theory and set theory. Comprised of eight chapters, this book begins with an introduction to first-order logic. In particular, two complete systems of axioms and rules for the first-order predicate calculus are given, one for efficiency in proving metatheorems, and the other, in a "natural deduction" style, for presenting detailed formal proofs. A somewhat novel feature of this framework is a full semantic and syntactic treatment of variable-binding term operators as primitive symbols of logic. Subsequent chapters focus on the origin of modern foundational studies; Gottlob Frege's formal system intended to serve as a foundation for mathematics and its paradoxes; the theory of types; and the Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory. David Hilbert's program and Kurt Gödel's incompleteness theorems are also examined, along with the foundational systems of W. V. Quine and the relevance of categorical algebra for foundations. This monograph will be of interest to students, teachers, practitioners, and researchers in mathematics.